Dodgers June review: Viva Yasiel Puig

No matter what happens the rest of 2013 season, or even the rest of his career, we will always have the month that Yasiel Puig burst onto the scene. June 2013 was the month of Puig, and we were all fortunate to witness it.

Puig obviously put up great stats, as he hit .436/.467/.713 with seven home runs. He had the highest batting average ever of any MLB player in their first month, per Elias, and Puig's 44 hits in his opening month are second only to Joe DiMaggio's 48 hits in May 1936 for most in an opening month.

But Puig was about more than stats. He was about excitement and energy, a player from whom nobody wants to avert their eyes. Whether it was the insane plate coverage, the wild and sometimes foolish baserunning, the reckless abandon in the outfield or the jaw-dropping throws, Puig made Dodgers baseball a must-watch event in June and for that the month was all his.

Dodger Batter of June: Hanley Ramirez made a valiant effort in the final two weeks, but June was all about Yasiel Puig. After just four weeks in the big leagues, Puig can go 0-for-45 and still would be hitting .301/.329/.493.

Dodger Pitcher of June: The starting staff as a whole was solid but this award goes to Stephen Fife, who was as reliable as anyone in the rotation. Fife put up a 2.21 ERA, struck out 30, walked 10, and won the first two games of his career.

Fife narrowly beat Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-jin Ryu, with Kenley Jansen and his 22/0 strikeout-to-walk ratio right behind.

June Record: 15-13
107 runs scored (3.82 per game)
118 runs allowed (4.21 per game)
.455 pythagorean winning percentage (13-15)

Season to date Record: 38-43
294 runs scored (3.63 per game)
340 runs allowed (4.20 per game)
.434 pythagorean winning percentage (35-46)

Game of the Month: Puig's second game came against the Padres, on June 4, and he hit his first two home runs. One to tie the game at 5-5 and other to stretch the Dodgers' lead to 9-6. The first home run was the longest:

Three baggers: The Dodgers hit only two triples in 28 games in June. One was hit by Puig; the other by pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu.

Welcome aboard: A trio of Dodgers made their major league debut in June: Puig was 2-for-4 in his first game, on June 3; Chris Withrow allowed a run and had a strikeout while recording two outs on June 12; Jose Dominguez struck out one and retired all three batters he faced, on June 30.

Pinch Hitting: For the month, Dodger pinch hitters had six hits in 33 at-bats with two doubles, hitting just .182/.270/.242.

Runners in Scoring Position: In June, the Dodgers hit .268/.323/.425 with runners in scoring position in 262 plate appearances, by far their best month of the season. This was helped greatly by Puig, who was 7-for-16 (.438) with three home runs, and a healthy Ramirez, who was 11-for-22 (.500) with three home runs with runners in scoring position during the month.

They had a runner on third base with less than two outs 55 times, and got the runner home 28 times, or 50.9% (the entire NL scored 383 of 749 times, 51.1%).

They had a runner on second base with nobody out 45 times in June, and the runner advanced 26 times, or 57.8% (the entire NL advanced the runner 305 of 561 times, 54.4%).

June weeks in review: June 2 | June 10 | June 16 | June 23 | June 30

Previous months in review: April | May

June Stats